First-Ever ‘Retreat Ceremony’ To Kick Start On Indo-Pak Border

Ceremony today at Suchetgarh

JAMMU: In a major boost to Jammu’s tourism potential, Border Security Forces (BSF) will start ‘Retreat Ceremony’ on Saturday at Octroi Post along the Indo-Pak International Border in Suchetgarh village of Ranbir Singh Pura Sector here in the outskirts on.

Officials told KNO, the first-ever ceremony will be inaugurated by J&K’s LG, Manoj Sinha, which mainly is aimed to boost border tourism in the region.

“The Retreat Ceremony will be a regular feature after its inauguration and will enthral the tourists on the lines of the Wagah Border, Amritsar Punjab,” the officials said, adding that though there will be no participation from the Pakistan side, the BSF will, however, “make it a daily feature.”

Tourism department along with other sister concern-agencies have developed suitable infrastructure in Suchetgarh close to India-Pakistan International Border for the retreat ceremony under Border Tourism development programme.

“The tourism department had planned to develop Suchetgarh under border tourism about a decade ago but as there was no positive response from the Pakistan side, the Tourism Department after an approval from the Central Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Tourism, proposed to organise the ‘retreat ceremony’ on the Indian side, which has finally got the approval,” an official privy to the development, told the news agency.

Interestingly, this year till mid of September, around 61.33 lakh tourists visited the Jammu region including 70,643 to Suchetgarh.

However, on an average, 5000 to 6000 tourists every day reach Suchetgarh.